


Everybody's Changing And I Don't Feel the Same

by calendarpages



Series: A Life in Love [1]
Category: Glee
Genre: Break Up, F/F, F/M, Future Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-08
Updated: 2012-06-08
Packaged: 2017-11-07 06:49:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/428139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calendarpages/pseuds/calendarpages
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will Schuester assumes that all of the couples he watched fall in love in his first years with the New Directions have broken up and gone their separate ways, so imagine his surprise when he receives a wedding invitation in the mail one Saturday morning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everybody's Changing And I Don't Feel the Same

Nobody thinks that they'll make it.

It isn't that they don't see how completely these boys have fallen for each other, but that this is a high school relationship and high school relationships don't last. They just don't.

And for the most part, this prophecy proves true. Slowly but surely the various couples of New Directions begin to drift apart, starting, unsurprisingly, with Finn and Rachel.

* * *

It starts out over money, as these fights often do, but it escalates to so much more. Finn followed Rachel to New York, just as they'd planned, and they got a quaint little apartment together in decent neighborhood within proximity of downtown. While Rachel attended NYADA, Finn was taking online college classes and working part-time at a local garage to pay the rent. Rachel had a job as a barista to help supplement their meager income but the majority of their needs were covered by Finn's uncharacteristically large paycheck. Apparently he was good at what he did and the owner of the garage desperately needed a youthful man like Finn around to offset his otherwise middle aged staff. At first it didn't bother Finn that he was paying most of the bills, he actually felt quite the opposite. Taking care of Rachel and her needs felt like fulfilling one of his most basic desires. He felt like the head of the house, the leader and the protector, like he was finally doing something right in his life for a change.

He felt like a man.

And then he didn't.

He didn't when Rachel got her first major role and "forgot" to tell him because she was too busy out celebrating with her friends.

He didn't when none of Rachel's cast mates knew who he was when he came to see her first show, a single red rose clutched in his nervous fingers. Apparently she'd never mentioned him, her boyfriend turned fiancé of almost two years and she'd never mentioned him.

It all came to a head when Finn got their bank statement for the month and realized that the only money that had been coming in for almost three months had been his paycheck from the garage. What happened to Rachel's barista job? They needed that money!

"Rachel, honey, can you come in here for a minute?" Finn called from where he sat in the living/dining room of their shabby, fifth floor walkup.

The sound of hairspray being run liberally over perfectly styled curls permeated the otherwise silent apartment as Finn waited for a response.

"Honey, did yo-"

"Yes, Finn! I heard you," snapped Rachel from the bathroom as she inspected her reflection in the mirror. Hair; perfect as usual, makeup; noticeable yet tasteful, dress; fashion forward. Perfect.

Finn called out again and Rachel huffed out a breath, squeezing the handle of her hairbrush.

"Finn, being this pretty takes time, you can't rush perfection!" she trilled and applied a final spritz of product to her bangs.

Once she was absolutely positive that her hair and makeup were suitably polished, Rachel breezed down the hall from the bathroom and into the little foyer where they kept their shoes and umbrellas. Grabbing a pair of heels and slipping them on over her tights, she addressed her boyfriend without looking up.

"Yes?" she asked, checking her wristwatch and groaning as she saw the time. "Finn you know I have a lunch date I have to make, can't this wait?"

"No actually, this can't wait," came Finn's voice, choked and rumbling with only half-stifled anger.

Only then, looking quickly up from her watch, did Rachel notice the furrow to his brow or the way he was clutching at the piece of paper in his hand like it had done him some great personal wrong. Maybe it had.

"Finn, what's that?"

Finn got up from his seat at their too-small dining room table and stalked over to where she stood by the front door, eyes burning, " _This_  is our bank statement."

Recognition dawned in Rachel's eyes, "Look Finn, I was going to tell you but-"

"But what, Rachel?" Finn closed his eyes and ran a worried hand through his hair. "We need that money. This is New York, we can't survive on one income."

Rachel's eyes grew impossibly larger and she reached up a comforting hand to stroke haltingly at his jaw, "But we can, Finn, we can! I did the math and everything! See if we just cut back on-"

"Cut back on what Rachel? Your clothes budget? Money to pay for your lunch dates?"

"Finn-"

"No! Don't 'Finn' me, Rachel," he snapped, jerking his head away her hand and taking a step back. "We both need to contribute if we're going to make this work."

And suddenly it wasn't just about Rachel quitting her job.

"What are you saying, Finn?" Rachel spat the name like it was venom on her tongue; like she couldn't wait to get it, to get  _him,_  out of her system.

Finn's eyes hardened, "I'm saying that I've been maintaining our relationship for far too long and I'm sick of it!"

"Well I'm sick of you always playing the victim!" screamed Rachel, her lunch date completely forgotten. "Whenever we fight it's over your insecurities and your pitiful self esteem. Man up, Finn and stop acting like such a martyr all the time!"

"You know what? I think the reason we fight about what we do is because you take every opportunity to belittle me, Rachel."

Something close to guilt flashed in Rachel's eyes but Finn blundered on, choking back tears, "Being loved by you was supposed to fix me, Rachel. You were supposed to teach me how to dream the way you do, cause I can't. You know, I can't. Bringing me to New York was just your sick way of taking advantage of me because you knew I'd do anything to prove myself to you."

With one last look at Rachel's face, Finn turned away, tears finally betraying him and sliding down his cheeks, "I'm done being used by you."

And so they were over. Rachel moved out and Finn moved on and that was the end of that.

* * *

Brittany and Santana were the next to go. They'd been living in Chicago while Santana got a law degree at the University of Chicago and Brittany worked as an instructor at a popular dance studio. Nobody knew what happened, not really, except that Brittany ran off with some traveling dance troupe that'd offered her a job and never looked back.

* * *

Mike and Tina were slower, more like a steady crumbling than a single, violent snap. They made it all the way through college, even with the age difference and the year apart while Tina finished high school. Mike attended Juilliard for dance while Tina pursued a liberal arts degree from NYU. They were so in love, so domestic and comfortable that they didn't notice the cracks in their relationship- or rather, they chose to ignore them. Eventually it all culminated in a bittersweet dinner date at their favorite sushi bar just down the block from where they'd lived for the past four years of their lives. They didn't officially break up, there were no cheesy parting lines or passionate declarations of, "We'll still be friends, tell me we'll always be friends!" but it was all there, unspoken in the cool New York City air as they kissed goodbye for the last time. Tina had been passive aggressively packing for weeks before and Mike hadn't stopped her, so when they returned to the apartment, Tina's half of their life was boxed up in suitcases and trunks, ready to be whisked away by the team of movers in the morning. They didn't have sex that night, instead preferring to curl up together in the bed they'd shared for so long and think about the eight years they'd spent together and planning for the many more years that lay ahead.

* * *

This slow disintegration of the relationships formed within the New Directions is why Will Schuester is more than surprised when he opens his mailbox on a hot Saturday morning in Lima, Ohio to find a square envelope with "William and Emma Schuester", along with their mailing information printed in the center of the thick paper in large swooping calligraphy. As he makes his way back into the house he flicks idly through the rest of the mail, holding the slightly larger envelope off to the side, pinched between two of his fingers. Entering the kitchen he greets his wife with a chaste peck to her cheek, ruffling their son Jamie's shockingly orange curls on his way to the fridge.

"We got our first wedding invitation today," calls Will as he pours himself a glass of milk.

Emma looks up from the mess of cheerios and banana left over Jamie's breakfast that she's been trying to scrub off of his highchair and beams, "Really? Oh that's so exciting, who is it from?"

"I haven't opened it yet, though I bet you it's Tina and Mike," Will says with a smirk.

Emma shakes her head, gently removing Jamie's tiny fist from where it had tangled itself in her hair, "No, I think it'll be Finn. Not marrying Rachel, of course, but I think he's the type to get married young."

Will snorts at that, "Yea, it certainly seemed like it when he was in high school."

Will pops off into his and Emma's shared office space and returns with a letter opener, brandishing it like a sword and shooting his wife a playful smile.

"One week of potty training says it's Tina and Mike."

Emma smiles impishly, "One week of cooking says it's Finn."

"Deal."

"Deal!"

Will smirks at his wife as slits the top of the envelope with an infuriating precision and slides out the invitation. The stationary is tasteful, a border of sleek black card stock surrounding a textured white square where the writing is printed. Tied around the corner of the invitation, and Lord only knows how they got it to stay attached, is a tiny satin ribbon the color of fresh red roses and as Will brings the card closer to his face to read the writing, he notices that the paper has been imbued with some sort of light, appealing scent. It reads:

_Mr. Kurt Elizabeth Hummel  
_ _and  
_ _Mr. Blaine Maxwell Anderson  
_ _request the honor of your presence  
_ _at their marriage  
_ _on Saturday, the fifteenth of December  
_ _at four o'clock in the afternoon  
_ _at The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco  
_ _followed by a reception  
_ _black-tie formal attire, s'il vous plaît_

"Huh," murmurs Will absentmindedly. "They moved to San Francisco, I was so sure that he was set on New York."

"Who?" chirps Emma, craning her neck to squint at the invitation.

"Kurt and Blaine," responds Will, his voice slightly awed. "They've been together practically longer than we have."

Emma coos appreciatively and takes the invitation from her husband to get a better look.

"Oh Will, they were so sweet on each other in high school." Emma's eyes glaze over for a moment, as though she's recalling some memory half forgotten with time. "I remember once, when they came to me for some couples' counseling towards the end of Kurt's senior year, Blaine said that Kurt was the love of his life."

Will nods, "I guess he was right."

Printed in small letters in the bottom right corner, as to maintain the flow of the invitation, are RSVP details consisting of an email and phone number. Will dials the number on their home phone and places the handset on the kitchen table between himself and Emma, setting it on speakerphone and laughing as the abrupt sound of the dial tone causes Jamie to let out a shocked little hiccupy giggle.

The phone rings five or six times before a female voice answers, chirpy and polite, "Hello this is Francesca of Starling Designs by Kurt Hummel, how many I help you?"

Emma blinks, "Hi, my name is Emma Schuester. My husband William and I received an invitation to Kurt Hummel's wedding, we're old friends of his, and we were wondering if we could speak with him?"

"One moment please, may I put you on hold?" asks Francesca brightly, not waiting for their answer before the sound of classical music begins to echo out of the phone speakers.

"Should we call back later?" asks Will, eyeing the phone dubiously before looking back up at his wife.

Emma is about to answer when a familiar voice fills the room. "Mr. Schue, is that really you?" comes the disbelieving tone of one Kurt Hummel, his voice slightly breathless as if he's just come into the office off the street.

"Kurt, my gosh it's been so long!" Emma clasps her hands together, smiling widely at Will and he suddenly has an overwhelming urge to tell her that he loves her.

"Mrs. Schuester!" comes Kurt's reply and Emma scoffs.

"Call me Emma, dear," she says warmly.

"Emma, wow, it has been so long since I've spoken with all the folks back in Lima. How are you? And how's little Jamie? He'd be, what, three by now?"

"His third birthday was last month," responds Emma, glancing fondly over at her son.

"The terrible twos are finally over!" adds Will and Kurt laughs, high and breathy.

"So I take it you've gotten the wedding invitation?" The smile is evident in Kurt's voice and Will can't help but chuckle a little to himself. Kurt may be a fully grown man about to get married but at heart he's still just a fool in love, chasing his black haired beauty around the choir room and filling the air with their unbridled laughter and joy.

"It's beautiful dear, so tasteful," gushes Emma as she runs her fingers over the invitation's little satin bow. "The scented paper was a nice touch."

Kurt snorts, "That was Blaine's idea. His only idea. He showed up at my office in the middle of the work day, screaming at my staff about scented wedding invitations and I knew I couldn't refuse him."

"Such a sweet man, I'm so happy for you Kurt," murmurs Emma, her eyes bright.

"I know, I'm so happy with him," responds Kurt quietly. "I never thought I'd get this, when I first came out, but now its a reality and I- I just couldn't be happier, I swear I couldn't."

Emma makes a small noise of a agreement, reaching absentmindedly over to tangle her fingers with Will's.

"So, San Francisco, I was so sure you were going to end up on Broadway in New York!" Kurt seems to have been expecting the question and he launches into an abridged history of his and Blaine's search for the perfect place to call home.

"When I got to New York and really started living there full time it just-" Kurt took a breath. "It's like it distracts you from the reality of where you're living with its bright lights and shiny reputation but really, it's just this huge, dirty city filled with unhappy people living unhappy lives."

Will nods, he learned that the hard way too but instead of looking farther for the perfect place to pursue his dreams he'd returned to Lima with his tail between his legs.

"And that whole revelation was what caused me to switch schools too. I dropped out of NYADA after half of the first semester and applied at Parsons to study fashion design. Blaine and I actually graduated the same year because I didn't get to start at Parsons until the start of the next school year."

"What's Blaine up to now?" asks Will because he's genuinely curious. Blaine was always a bit of a mystery to Will. He'd only known the boy for a little under two years and in that time Will had been so wrapped up in his own drama to really get to know him properly like he'd gotten to know his other Glee kids.

"He went to Columbia and got all of his degrees there. He has a BA in liberal arts and journalism, plus he got his Master's in education."

Will raises an eyebrow, "So he's a teacher?"

Kurt hums in the affirmative, "And a damn good one, too. Right now he's working at a ritzy private school in the city teaching this new integrated program centered around journalism and the use of new media. His kids are amazing, I've seen some of the work they've done and it blows me away."

"And what about you?" Emma pipes up.

"Me? Well my secretary probably gave part of that away."

"Starling Designs, right?"

"My independently owned fashion company. We're still small, but we're in demand and that's what's paying for my wedding."

Emma chortles, "Does the fancy prep school pay Blaine well?"

"Oh yes, they practically overpay him in my opinion. No offense meant to you two, but aren't teachers supposed to be destitute?"

Both Emma and Will laugh at that and Emma begs to hear Kurt and Blaine's proposal story but Kurt refuses to budge.

"Nuh-uh, that's classified information, only to be disclosed  _after_  the wedding, although I will say that he proposed to me and that it was completely romantic, and completely Blaine."

Emma pouts but Will is still curious as to why the boys ended up in San Francisco specifically.

"It just fit, I guess," Kurt says and Will can tell he's shrugging on the other end of the line. "It's beautiful here and everyone is so accepting. Plus I can see us raising kids in the city so we wouldn't have to move out to the suburbs, which I've always really dreaded."

The way Kurt mentions having kids, so casually and effortlessly, reminds Will quite abruptly of how old his Glee kids have gotten. Kurt must have turned 26 this year, and he and Blaine would no doubt have kids by 30. Their lives have just fallen into place the way lives tend to do, like when Will married Emma and he finally felt as though he was on the right track to finally have something beautiful to look back on. Kurt and Blaine have years and years of beautiful memories to look back on already and their marriage will only ensure them more.

They chat for a bit longer, back and forth about Kurt and Blaine's life in California and Will and Emma's in Ohio until Kurt goes off the line for a moment and then returns with a disappointed sigh.

"I'm so sorry, but I'm meeting Blaine at our favorite cafe for lunch and I've really got to head out," he says regretfully.

"Don't you worry about it, dear," insists Emma, "tell him congratulations from us."

Kurt laughs, "Will do. He'll be so excited when I tell him we've spoken, you may or may not want to expect another phone call later today because he'll be dying to catch up."

"You two are both a joy, call us anytime."

"Oh and Kurt!" Will catches Kurt just as he's about to hang up.

"Mhm?"

"We'll definitely be coming to the wedding."

"Thank you, we're so happy that you'll be there to help us celebrate, we really are."

"It's our pleasure, Kurt."

"Damn straight!" quips Kurt. "It's is going to be one hell of a party."

"With you planning it, I know it will be."

"Bye Will, Emma, it was so nice to chat with you, I've missed this."

"And we've missed this too, have a good lunch!" Emma is trying her best to be polite but she's really just having a hard time finding it in herself to hang up.

"Thank you, I will."

And then the phone line goes dead.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first in a series of stories, called the Life in Love series, that I hope to write surrounding the future of the New Directions; together and apart. The title is derived from Keane's beautiful song, Everybody's Changing.   
> This has been cleaned up and moved from fanfiction.net.


End file.
